


craigslist boyfriend

by starryjoonie



Category: GOT7
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Dinner, Craigslist, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Family Issues, Fluff, M/M, Marriage Proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-30
Updated: 2019-11-30
Packaged: 2021-02-26 15:34:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21610492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starryjoonie/pseuds/starryjoonie
Summary: After an argument with his parents, Jinyoung feels like pissing them off, so he hires a guy off Craigslist to pretend to be his boyfriend at his family's Christmas dinner.in which Jinyoung's fake boyfriend is the dreamy, rock band vocalist Jaebeom and he catches feelings.
Relationships: Im Jaebum | JB/Park Jinyoung
Comments: 12
Kudos: 296





	craigslist boyfriend

The telltale snowflakes gather on his window as Jinyoung sits on his bed, wrapped up in a blanket with his eyes glued on his laptop. He’s typing out an email, fueled by his own anger.

His parents shouldn’t have pissed him off. 

“To Jaebeom- This is Park Jinyoung, and I am responding to your Craigslist advertisement. I am interested in your offer if you are still available for tomorrow. I’ve got a family dinner at 5PM in which I’d like to make them a little mad. I’ll attach my phone number and address.”

Jinyoung hits send with incredible satisfaction. He got in an argument with his parents a couple days ago because apparently his undergraduate degree in literature will get him nowhere in life and that he needs to get a “real job.” 

So, of course, to rile them up, he’s going to make the family Christmas celebration a little more interesting. 

He receives a text message from this Jaebeom a few minutes later. “Hey, saw your email, and yes, I’m still free tomorrow. I’d be happy to come.”

“Thank you,” Jinyoung texts back, relieved that this plan is forming well.

“What are the details of our fake relationship? Just so I know.”

Jinyoung thinks for a second. “We’ve been dating for a year, and we met at the bar you work at. I think that’s all you’d need. And in terms of PDA, only hugging, handholding, and if the situation calls for it I’d let you kiss me on the cheek. Cheek only. And you can do anything on that list of yours to make my family mad.”

“Okay lol~ I’ll see you then.”

He leans back, smiling. He managed to find a Craigslist ad from a guy in a rock band that is his age, who will come to houses and pretend to be a boyfriend for Christmas. Specifically, to piss off families. He had wrote that he had an outdated green car and a tattoo on his forearm. Just those two details are enough for Jinyoung, as they’d certainly get his parents going. Their ideal spouse for Jinyoung is well-off and proper and Jaebeom sounds nothing like that description.

Plus, he wrote that he’ll flirt with people and start fights upon request, among other things. All at the cost of just the meal. Jinyoung thinks it’s a pretty good deal.

“I’ll be bringing home a date for Christmas dinner,” he says in a call to his mother. That alone will surprise her, considering he’s never managed to have a serious relationship last till the holidays (it was never his fault; they were all jerks and Jinyoung is still bitter).

Her audible gasp nearly makes him laugh. “A date?! Jinyoung, you didn’t tell me you were dating!”

“Yeah, we’ve been together a year. I wanted to make sure it was serious.”

“Park Jinyoung, I can’t believe you. Oh my god, I’ll have to make more food.” She goes on a motherly tangent as Jinyoung tries to wrap up the call, grinning.

This will be easy for him; he’s already a good actor. He just hopes that this Jaebeom guy can perform.

~

The early half of Jinyoung’s Christmas day is spent with last-minute cleaning before he can finally get ready himself.

Despite not having an actual boyfriend to impress, he still wants to look good. He dresses in a comfy blue sweater and he lets his hair stay fluffy so that he has this “boyfriend-look” aesthetic. He’s in the middle of applying lip balm when his mother yells up the stairs, “Jinyoung, when is she getting here?”

He smiles wider. “Thirty minutes,” he calls back. Jaebeom had texted him just a few minutes ago that he had left. 

When he’s done, he goes downstairs to begin greeting family as they arrive. This Christmas is especially high in attendance, which will make things more exciting. He smiles politely as the older members of his extended family walk through the front door, giving the standard response to the “how are you doing” questions.

The front door has been closed for just two minutes when Jinyoung hears a knock. He knows it isn’t family, because no one here knocks, so he immediately knows it is Jaebeom. 

“Is that your date?” his mom asks excitedly, jumping up out of her seat to come greet the person she assumes is female.

Jinyoung opens the door to a tall guy standing on his porch. He’s got long black hair, and a wavy tuft of it frames his face. Speaking of face, he’s actually much more handsome than expected. The guy had never sent a photo, so Jinyoung didn’t know what he looked like at all. He’s got a nose piercing, an eyebrow piercing, and one lip piercing… this is perfect. 

He gives him a smile before turning to his mother. “Mom, this is Jaebeom.”

Her mouth is agape, taken aback by shock. His father, who had come to see, looks just as surprised. Wide-eyed, she tries to recover herself. “Oh! Uh, hello, it’s nice to meet you, I’m Jinyoung’s mother. Please come in.”

Jaebeom bows and steps inside. Cue the rest of his family staring at Jaebeom like he’s sprouted another head. 

“Um, feel free to sit down,” his mother quickly says to Jaebeom before turning to Jinyoung. “Can I have a second?”

Jinyoung follows her to the kitchen, where she immediately starts talking once they’re out of earshot. “Jinyoung, I told everyone here that you had a girlfriend.”

“I never said it was a girl,” he points out. “I said I had ‘a date.’”

She looks slightly stressed, but she seems to have accepted Jinyoung likes men without pause. Moving on to the actual issue. “Okay, but who the actual hell is he? He has like a hundred piercings and his _hair-_ ”

“Let’s not judge someone based on their appearance, Mom,” he reprimands, guiding her back into the living room where Jaebeom has migrated into a chair. The questioning hasn’t started yet, thankfully.

As Jinyoung enters the room, Jaebeom gives him a sweet smile and stands up to greet him. “Didn’t get to say hi earlier,” he says as he gives him a tight hug. “You look cute.”

“You, too,” Jinyoung compliments, and he isn’t lying. Objectively, Jaebeom looks quite attractive in his simple black sweater. It makes his shoulders look broad. 

“How long have you two been together?” his mother asks, still so shocked that she’s forgetting details Jinyoung told her yesterday.

“It’s been about a year,” Jaebeom responds, keeping his arm around Jinyoung as they sit together on the mini sofa. “I’m a bartender, so naturally that’s where we met.”

She looks at Jinyoung, mildly scandalized. “Since when do you go the bar often?”

“It was one time.” Jinyoung’s already getting defensive, but he has to remind himself to just let it happen. He asked for this, after all. At least Jaebeom looks like he’s enjoying this, too. He’s smiling, just enough for it to not be weird.

Jinyoung’s aunt decides to join in the conversation, her judgmental expression more prominent than ever. “So you’re a bartender? Do you go to school?”

“Ah, no, I dropped out of high school,” Jaebeom explains. “I’m also in a rock band. I’m the main vocalist.”

The resounding silence in the room exists for a second before Jinyoung’s mom interrupts. “You’re not planning on enrolling in college?”

“No, it would be too stressful with my job and my band. It makes fairly enough money.”

“Where do you live?”

“I live in a small apartment about thirty minutes away,” he says, with a smile. That’s probably the truth, but Jinyoung hoped he’d lie and say he lived with his parents. Jinyoung’s own parents would be appalled. 

“Why don’t you continue cooking, Mom, I think something’s burning. And I want to show Jaebeom my childhood bedroom,” Jinyoung interrupts, grabbing Jaebeom’s hand and leading him out of the room. He needs a chance to actually talk to the guy.

As he walks past, his mom calls out, “Be quick. Dinner will be ready soon.”

Jinyoung takes him up the stairs to his bedroom and closes the door. He lets out a big breath. “Damn.”

“Am I doing well?” Jaebeom asks, laughing, with his hands shoved in his pockets.

“You’re doing fantastic,” Jinyoung praises. “You’re just the person I need for this.”

He smiles sheepishly. “Glad I can help. Also, I don’t know if I parked my car in the right side of the driveway-”

“It’s okay. It’ll be fine.” Jinyoung leans against the door. “I just wanted to have a moment to talk to you before dinner starts. Y’know, considering I’ve never met you.”

“Well. I’m Jaebeom. My rock band is called Eclipse. I can sing. If you want, I can pretend to be drunk and sing for your family. I’ll pretend to be bad at it.”

Jinyoung laughs. “That’d be lovely. Just, do whatever you want to. I’ve got some cousins you can flirt with, I’ll introduce you to them. Start arguments. I don’t care. The more chaos the better.”

“You want the proposal, too?” he checks.

“Yes. Do that towards the end of the night; it’ll be the icing on the cake.”

Jaebeom has a cute little smile, Jinyoung decides. He can get used to seeing it for the rest of the night. 

“Did something happen between you and your parents?” he asks. “That you wanted to torment them?”

“They just got on my nerves about my degree and my job,” Jinyoung explains. “I’m a literature major.”

“Ah, I can see why they reacted that way when I said I was a high school dropout.” 

Jinyoung nods. “They’re very traditional, in that sense. My mom already made a comment to me about your piercings.”

Jaebeom runs his tongue over his lip piercing, chuckling. “Yeah, I’m still getting used to it. I just got this one a while ago.”

“Just in time for this, then,” Jinyoung says. 

His mother calls out that dinner is ready, so Jinyoung mentally prepares himself and then goes back downstairs with Jaebeom following behind him.

They’re the last to sit down at the dining table. Jaebeom starts eating as soon as everyone else does, and when he guesses the questioning is over for the time being.

But no. Jinyoung’s mom has a million questions to ask. 

“So you two have been together for a year. Is it a pretty serious relationship, or?”

Jaebeom nods, enthusiastically. “Oh, yeah. I think we’re quite close. We’re a pretty good match. He balances me out.”

His mother looks as if she’s thinking how her perfect son Jinyoung could ever be attracted to a guy like this. “Oh, I’m sure.”

“Tell me about yourself, then. No criminal record?” Jinyoung’s father asks. What a stereotypical question to ask, assuming this rough-edged Jaebeom is a criminal.

Jinyoung, wanting drama, nudges Jaebeom’s foot under the table and hopes he understands. 

He does.

“Uh, not really,” Jaebeom responds.

“Not really?” his father echoes, leaning forward as if that’ll help him comprehend better.

Jaebeom shrugs. “It’s no big deal.”

Jinyoung nearly bursts out into laughter at the look on his grandmother’s face.

One of his cousins decides to break the awkward silence. “I’ll get us some wine!” she says, standing up from her chair and practically sprinting to the kitchen.

She pours everyone at the table a glass. As she’s pouring Jaebeom’s drink, he eyes her up and down. Visibly. Jinyoung remembers to not notice, so he busies himself with cutting his food while he imagines what everyone else must be thinking. He really can’t wait for the proposal. His mother is going to scream.

“So, why are you dating my son?” she asks, seconds later, startling Jinyoung from his train of thought.

Jaebeom glances at Jinyoung, putting on a very affectionate expression (Jinyoung is impressed. The man’s a good actor). “Well, there’s a thousand things I could say. But really, he’s the most handsome guy I’ve met on the job. Really sexy.” He eyes Jinyoung, too, the way he eyed his cousin seconds earlier. “And he loves me for who I am. Which is most important.”

He is doing an excellent job of not overdoing it. He’s not getting kicked out of the house, but he’s still got Jinyoung’s parents looking vaguely uncomfortable. 

“That’s sweet,” his aunt attempts.

“He really is,” Jinyoung agrees, smiling.

His father tries to change the conversation. “We’ll have games going after dinner. You’re welcome to join us in playing UNO later, Jaebeom.”

“Sounds fun.”

“Do you know the rules?” he asks pointedly.

Jinyoung is mildly offended at this statement. “He’s a high school dropout, not a three year old, Dad.”

“Not everyone knows the rules to UNO.”

“It’s self-explanatory,” Jinyoung says.

Jaebeom blinks, turning to the cousin. “Can I have more wine?” he asks, dangling his empty glass between his fingers.

As conversation turns away from the topic of Jaebeom, Jinyoung leans closer to him. “You don’t have to actually get drunk, you know that, right?”

“I have a high tolerance. I won’t be drinking any more than this. The drunkenness will just be me, I promise,” Jaebeom replies in a soft, low voice that is warm on his neck. He really does have a voice suited for singing.

The end of dinner is signaled by Jinyoung’s parents starting clean-up. Jaebeom stands up with them. “I’ll help,” he volunteers, taking his and Jinyoung’s plates.

His mother looks genuinely surprised. “Oh! Thank you, Jaebeom, that’s very kind of you.”

Jinyoung wishes Jaebeom hadn’t done that, purely because it pleases his parents. But it’s cute that Jaebeom is actually a decent person.

After ten minutes, Jinyoung enters the kitchen to find Jaebeom alone, drying the last of the dishes. He looks up, giving him a smile as greeting. “Hi. Sorry, I felt like I had to help. You all are feeding me, at least, so I had to help.”

“It’s fine. You’re doing great, actually. I almost laughed when you said I was sexy, in front of everyone. It was so awkward.”

Jaebeom laughs lightly. “I tried my best.” He sets one of the plates aside. “You do look good today, though. Like you dressed up for me.”

“In their eyes, I’ve got a boyfriend to impress,” Jinyoung says, glancing down at himself. “I’m glad you like it.”

“As your fake boyfriend, I am very impressed,” Jaebeom teases. 

Jinyoung looks at the plates. He’s eager for the games with his family, so he can let his competitive side out. “Are you almost done?”

“Just a few more.”

He watches Jaebeom dry another plate, and then he requests, “Sing me a song.”

Jaebeom looks back at him, one eyebrow raised. “A song?”

“Yeah, one of your songs. You’re in a band, aren’t you?”

“Okay,” he gives in, “but don’t judge me because I haven’t warmed up.”

Jinyoung just rolls his eyes as Jaebeom starts singing a tune that sounds like it should be paired with a guitar. His voice sounds soothing, like it belongs to a song Jinyoung would listen to on bad days. The kind that gives you the feeling a warm blanket would. 

He watches him as he sings. Jaebeom’s more focused on the dishes than his singing, but when he meets Jinyoung’s eyes his smile appears and the smile reaches his eyes. He does a little dorky swaying dance to accompany his vocals and it makes Jinyoung laugh. 

“Okay, you’re good,” Jinyoung says approvingly when he’s done. “I see why you’re in a band.”

“Are you sure it isn’t the extensive piercings?” Jaebeom jokes. “That your parents love so much?”

Jinyoung just laughs, taking his hand and removing him from the kitchen. “Speaking of the parents, we’ve got to go back to them before they think we’ve run off.”

Within five minutes, they’re sat on the floor at the coffee table with several members of Jinyoung’s extended family. Jaebeom actually gets into the game a lot, and his little noises that he makes when the bad cards land on him are very endearing. Jinyoung feels bad giving him the card that makes him draw four cards, but the pout on his face afterward is cute, so he doesn’t regret it.

At some point in the game, someone spills their alcoholic drink on the table, and Jaebeom is the first to volunteer to get paper towel to clean it up. On his way back, he rolls up his sleeves to his elbows. Jinyoung catches a glimpse of the tattoo on his forearm that he had mentioned in the Craigslist ad. 

It’s a cat.

The tattoo is a cat. Very simple, just the outline of the ears and the whiskers and the tail, so it’s a tasteful tattoo, but it’s a cat. That is in no way intimidating at all. It just makes Jinyoung’s heart flutter because damn. Men who love their animals are the best kind of men.

The game ends, eventually (Jaebeom won), and they settle back into the loveseat, a bit farther away from the others. Jinyoung shifts closer to him, because although he’s wearing a sweater his parents always keep the house cold. 

“Cold?” Jaebeom asks, glancing down at him.

He nods, and Jaebeom grabs his jacket that he’d left on the back of the couch and drapes it over his shoulders. 

“Thank you,” Jinyoung says, warmly. He’s ignoring the fact that he’s currently got _Jaebeom’s_ jacket. “Also… do you have a cat?”

Jaebeom smiles another sheepish smile. “You saw the tattoo, huh?”

“Yes, I did, and I think it’s adorable,” Jinyoung says, grinning.

“My cat is named Nora,” Jaebeom admits, showing Jinyoung a few photos of her on his phone. “She looks cute but she’s really the devil. I love her, though.”

“She’s precious.” 

Minutes later, people start handing out gifts. Jinyoung receives many socks from extended family, and from his mother, a book called, “Dating for Dummies.” It makes Jaebeom laugh heartily.

His mom passes by. “I got that before I knew you were in a relationship. I guess it could still help.”

“Thanks Mom,” he says dryly. Truth be told, he still needs it.

After the younger children open presents and it’s mostly just conversation, Jaebeom stands up suddenly. “There’s something I’d like to give to someone today,” he announces, to the room that quickly hushes.

Jinyoung looks up at him, questioningly, until he remembers.

He turns to Jinyoung, taking his hands and standing him up. “Park Jinyoung, I love you to death, and I’m glad we can spend our first holiday together. But today I’ve realized I want to spend many, many more holidays with you,” he says, with conviction in his voice. So much conviction to the point Jinyoung has hardly broken eye contact. At this moment, Jinyoung glances away for just a second to see the pale faces of his parents. 

As Jaebeom gets down on one knee, Jinyoung throws his hands up to his mouth, in part to hide his smile but mostly to keep the act going. Admittedly, Jaebeom is _so_ good at this, and he looks really cute from this angle. 

His parents look horrified, as does every other family member. Mission accomplished.

“Jinyoung, will you marry me?” Jaebeom asks, with his unchanging expression of warmth as he opens the box he had in his palm.

Jinyoung starts nodding with enthusiasm (even though he’s sure his parents were hoping he’d say no) and says, “Yes,” pretending to be choked up.

Jaebeom gets to his feet, a wide smile on his face as he slides the ring onto Jinyoung’s hand. Jinyoung gets one good look at it- it’s a silver band with a (hopefully) fake diamond inside it- before Jaebeom is pulling him close. People are clapping, albeit weakly, while Jaebeom presses a gentle kiss to Jinyoung’s cheek.

Jinyoung melts a little inside.

When Jaebeom pulls away, the nearest relative says, “Congratulations! I bet you’re surprised!” in a very obvious way.

In fact, his mother manages to drag him away back to the kitchen, and Jaebeom watches as he leaves with amusement.

“Park Jinyoung!” she says scoldingly. “Your father and I have known that man for _one day_ and now you’re getting _married_ to him?”

“I love him.”

She looks beyond stressed. “Jinyoung, you are engaged and the man you are engaged to has met the family _once_. This is absurd. I mean, look at him! He’s absolutely drunk!” She points out through the hallway where Jaebeom appears to have turned on some music and invited others to dance.

Jinyoung shrugs. “You’ll get to know him eventually. I mean, we’re getting married. He’ll be your son-in-law.”

The silence tells all.

“Anyway, he’s my fiance, now, so I hope you accept him,” Jinyoung says sweetly. He walks away, back to the living room, where Jaebeom invites him to sit next to him.

“How’d I do?” he whispers in his ear.

“You were very cute.”

“Cute?” He pouts. “That was a heartwarming, passionate confession of love. And you’re telling me it’s cute.”

Jinyoung nods, watching as Jaebeom just leans forward and kisses him on the cheek again. This time, it was unnecessary, but Jinyoung welcomes it. Jaebeom has really soft lips. 

They take the family photo soon after. They’re all standing in front of the Christmas tree, and Jinyoung has his arm around Jaebeom so that his ring is visible in the photo. _This’ll be a story to tell,_ he thinks as the photo is taken.

He admires Jaebeom’s dedication to this, going all the way to buying a cheap ring just to stir up drama. His presence at this Christmas really made the dinner enjoyable.

Jinyoung isn’t going to lie, when it comes time for Jaebeom to leave he feels a little saddened. This experience left him with a little bit of a crush. Which was completely unavoidable, considering how beautiful and sweet the man is.

So he puts Jaebeom’s jacket back on him as he’s about to leave. 

“Thanks for everything,” Jinyoung says with warmth. “I really appreciate it.”

Jaebeom gives him a smile back as he pulls his hair up into a tiny ponytail. “Yeah, it was a lot of fun. Very life-changing.”

“I’m glad.”

Just as Jaebeom’s about to go out the door, he turns around and says, “And you have my number, right? I’d like to take you out sometime and repay you for the meal.”

Jinyoung’s heart flutters. “Yeah! Yeah, that’d be cool.” Jaebeom’s eye-smile makes him die a bit. He’s whipped for him, already.

“And you can keep the ring. It was two dollars.” He winks.

**Author's Note:**

> this fic is based on that Craiglist thanksgiving meme that always goes around this time of year.
> 
> feel free to leave comments!


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